Tens of thousands in Washington ordered to evacuate amid severe flooding: “Lives will be at stake”

Tens of thousands of Washington residents were under evacuation orders Thursday after days of unrelenting heavy rain triggered flooding that overflowed rivers, sent mud sliding onto highways and trapped people in floodwaters. Gov. Bob Ferguson has warned that “lives will be at stake in the coming days.”  

“The flooding levels we’re looking at are potentially historic in nature, so we just want to emphasize how serious the situation is,” Ferguson said at a news briefing Thursday, one day after declaring a statewide emergency. “This situation is extremely unpredictable.”

Some residents have already been ordered to higher ground as the state sees some of its worst flooding in decades. Skagit County, in a major agricultural region north of Seattle, has ordered everyone within the Skagit River’s floodplain to evacuate. Some 78,000 people live in the floodplain, according to the county’s emergency management chief Julie de Losada.

“Catastrophic flooding is likely” in many areas, and the state is requesting water rescue teams and boats, Ferguson said Wednesday night on X. The National Water Prediction Service was forecasting 18 major floods and 15 moderate floods across the state, he said.

Hundreds of Guard members will be sent to help communities, said Gent Welsh, adjutant general of the Washington National Guard.

The high water mark upstream at the town of Concrete was below estimates, but authorities warned people that record levels elsewhere were still possible.

“That doesn’t mean to say that we’re out of the woods, we’re not,” said Robert Ezelle, director of the Washington Military Department’s emergency management division. “Because as the waters come down here, they’re still going to be gaining strength.”

Along the river in Mount Vernon, teams knocked on doors in low-lying areas Thursday to inform residents of evacuation notices, city authorities said. Further north near the U.S.-Canada border, firefighters rescued several people from their homes in Sumas, Mayor Bruce Bosch said.

Heavy rain continued to fall over parts of the state, prompting rising rivers, road closures, water rescues and suspension of Amtrak trains between Seattle and Vancouver. Rainfall intensity increased in several counties in Washington’s Cascade Mountains, which had seen up to 6 inches of rain in 24 hours. One area, Snoqualmie Pblock, picked up an additional 1.7 inches of rain in six hours, the National Weather Service said.

The governor said that even after the water recedes, there will be a long, difficult road ahead.

“The impact on Washingtonians is significant now, and it’s going to be significant in the coming days,” Ferguson said. “And that is an understatement.”

Harrison Rademacher, a meteorologist with the weather service in Seattle, described the atmospheric river soaking the region as “a jet stream of moisture” stretching across the Pacific Ocean “with the nozzle pushing right along the coast of Oregon and Washington.”

Another storm system is expected to bring more rain starting Sunday. 

“The pattern looks pretty unsettled going up to the holidays,” Rademacher said.

Rescues amid flooding

Pierce County sheriff’s deputies on Wednesday rescued people at an RV park in Orting, including helping one man in a Santa hat wade through waist-deep water. Part of the town was ordered to evacuate over concerns about the Puyallup River’s extremely high levels and upstream levees. On Thursday, officials in Pierce County said they had conducted more than 25 rescues. 

A landslide blocked part of Interstate 90 east of Seattle, with photos from Eastside Fire & Rescue showing vehicles trapped by tree trunks, branches, mud and standing water. Officials also closed a mountainous section of U.S. 2 due to rocks, trees and mud.

More than 11,000 customers in Washington had lost electricity by Thursday night, according to the tracking site PowerOutage.us.

One volunteer, Brandon Hunt, said he helped people who were waving their hands on their front door and didn’t know what to do. They didn’t know if they could drive through water, he said, and he helped them get out of their yard and to safety.

Flooding rivers could break records

The Skykomish River crested at 24 feet about an hour northeast of Seattle, reaching its highest level since 2006 and nine feet above flood stage, CBS News’ Carter Evans reported. 

The Skagit River was expected to crest at roughly 39 feet in Mount Vernon early Friday.

While that projection is lower than previous estimates, Mount Vernon officials were nonetheless urging residents in the floodplain to evacuate.

“That’s still a record flood, and so we’re preparing for that,” Mayor Peter Donovan said, adding that they’d “be visiting low-lying neighborhoods, residential areas, and getting the word out the best that we can for folks who haven’t responded yet to evacuation notices.”

The county was closing nonessential government services on Thursday, including all district and superior court services.

Flooding from the river has long plagued Mount Vernon, the largest city in the county with some 35,000 residents. Flooding in 2003 displaced hundreds of people.

The city completed a floodwall in 2018 that helps protect the downtown. It pblocked a major test in 2021, when the river crested near record levels.

But the city is on high alert. The historic river levels expected Friday could top the wall, and some are worried that older levees could fail.

“It could potentially be catastrophic,” said Ellen Gamson, executive director of the Mount Vernon Downtown Association.

Jake Lambly added sandbags, tested water pumps and moved valuables to the top floor of the home he shares with his 19-year-old son.

“This is my only blocket,” he said Wednesday from his front porch. “I got nothing else.”